how can i beat this anxiety??

[ddonaghey1989]

ive had anxiety for over a year now am im only starting to come to terms with actually saying its anxiety as its been dizziness im affected with which makes me panic really bad. i keep thinking its my inner ear bt knowones helping me. drs have prescribed 10mg citalopram which im too afraid to take. everyday is a struggle bt it doesnt stop me from going out or anything you wouldnt know to look at me that im an anxious mess. how can i beat this anxiety what can i do?? my gp said it will take months to get cbt (i live in northern ireland) ive been to normal counselling which hasnt helped i take 10mg propranolol for palpitations but other than that i dont know what else to do. help me please :'(

danielle xx

[Shelly06]

Hi Danielle. It's really good that you have been to the doctors, I've been living with fear and anxiety in the forms of Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety and Health Anxiety all of my life, I've seen a few counsellors in my time but nothing really ever happened.

I had been having many symptoms of anxiety stomach problems, feeling dizzy, sick etc. I can go out of the house but it makes me very anxious so I don't go out on my own often. I know I can't go on living like this for the rest of my life, I'm 32 now and can't hold a job outside of the home as my anxiety levels never go down around a lot of people and when I'm in the house from when I wake until I sleep I'm worrying at various levels about anything and everything.

I went to the Drs and she prescribed Sertraline for me. I went home put it in a draw and researched it for two weeks and totally scared myself about taking it. Went for my appointment with mental health nurse last Thursday and she said I'd talked myself out of taking it, which I had.

So she wanted to start me on Citalopram. I went and got them and put them in the draw with the others and only googled a tiny bit, but mainly have just read this forum in bits about it.

I really, really didn't want to take any medication but I've lived like this for so long and it does effect my life greatly so it took me two days and then an hour of holding the first pill I was so scared to start taking anything, but I took it so I've started on the Citalopram, it will be day 3 tomorrow.

The first day I took a pill apart from winding myself up about having taken it, it was fine I didn't really feel anything. A little jittery maybe later on and I didn't sleep good last night but that could have been because I went to sleep worrying about it. Today again nothing major. I'm just thinking about all the people that say that medication along with CBT has really helped them to get a life back and that's what I really want and I hope that I won't be on the medication for too long. Will see how things go.

Are you on the waiting list for CBT? I would definitely do that as some have said that it's very helpful. I'm having to wait just over a month, but it's better to at least be in the queue. I didn't find normal counselling much good either, but I'm hoping the CBT will be a lot better and helpful.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

Silly question maybe but have you read the website pages over there <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[smit]

Hey ,
Well done for going drs and counseling even though you said it didn't really help for you. I was in a similar boat a couple of years ago and picked up a few tricks that really helped me that I hope will really help you..
1) a panic attack is not dangerous at all and is actually the most undesirable outcome from any situation. So therefore when something begins to set me of f and I recognise panic symptoms I just remember that that attack was the worst thing and I've been through that so many times I now know it's survivable. (Aka not the end of the world)
2) panic symptoms such as your dizziness are better controlled when you can identify that it just stress ( panic) that is causing them . identifying this helps to dismiss them and reduce anxiety about them. So next time you feel dizzy etc write down how anxious you were feeling when it came on or if there was anything setting you off at the time , I promise you will soon begin to see a correlation that will help you feel more at ease about unsettling symptoms =)
3) CBT was not easy, and not like simply taking a pill . you can start it at home on your by looking st books like ctb for dummies ( I found this really helpful while I was in the waiting list) and it takes effort on your part but it is worth it
4) finally try and talk to a trusted friend or relative about thing s so you can just call them up when u need to let off steam , good luck , hope this helps